Avenging The Dead
by WillowSakura
Summary: Surviving the zombie apocalypse is hard. Piper finds out first hand, how hard it can be. After being forcibly separated from her sister, she will stop at nothing to be reunited with her. But, will the reunion be a happy one? (Pairings are Daryl/OC and Bucky/OC. Not an OT3. Sorry!)
1. Chapter 1

_"Just go, Piper!" The girl commanded, shouting over the nearly deafening sound of countless moaning corpses. Piper held the hunting knife in her shaking hands as she heard the terrifying sound of glass cracking under immense pressure._

 _"Dammit, Annabeth! I'm not gonna leave you! Come on!" Piper yelled back defiantly. The storefront window shattered and the two girls looked horrified as countless corpses spilled into their once safe haven. Several rotted faces stared up at them from the floor as the dead crawled closer. The standing ones shambled over slowly, some of them tripping over the fallen ones._

 _"PIPER!" Annabeth screamed over the noise. The brunette turned her attention back to the other girl, just in time to see one of the dead grabbing at her ankle. Piper sprang up and stabbed at the corpse in a wild frenzy._

 _"NO! Leave my sister alone!" She screamed. The dead didn't understand; didn't comprehend. But it just made the girl feel better and helped get her frustrations out._

 _"Piper! I need you to go!" Annabeth exclaimed, stopping her sister from her stabbing tyraid. Piper stared silently at her sister, before another corpse began clawing at the girls. "Dammit, Piper! Just listen to me for once!" Annabeth shoved her sister away, towards a nearby window. Piper looked out and saw the dumpster below._

 _"No, Anna... I don't wanna go! Come with me!" Piper pleaded._

 _"They're looking for us together! We have to separate!" Annabeth kicked the heads of several nearby crawling corpses, giving them a few more precious seconds. "I'll find you. You KNOW I will!" Gunshots sounded from somewhere close by. The sisters looked at each other with fear in their eyes._

 _"Please..." Piper tried once more to convince her sister to come with her. She wrapped her arms around her sister and squeezed her tightly. Annabeth squeezed her back before pulling away._

 _"Just keep running." Annabeth instructed her. She pushed the duffle bag out of the window and it fell into the dumpster below. "I love you. Be safe." She kissed Piper's cheek before pushing her out of the window as well. The brunette screamed as she fell backwards, bracing for the pain of the impact._

"ANNA!" Piper sat up and screamed. Her heart was racing wildly as her eyes darted around her surroundings, quickly adjusting to the darkness that engulfed her. Instinctively, she grabbed the handle of her hunting knife and quickly assumed a crouched position. Similar to that of a snake before it lunged at its prey.

Nothing. No sound, no movement. Just complete darkness.

Piper stayed as still as she could; knife in hand, ready to strike. It was almost as if she was trying to will a threat into existence. Just to give her an excuse to stab something. If something didn't come along soon, she'd have to resort to stabbing herself... She'd be lying if she said the thought had never crossed her mind.

Ever since her parents died... Annabeth was all she had. Now, she didn't know where she was. She knew her sister was alive. She just had to be. Piper refused to believe anything different. Besides, she could... _feel_ her sister. They weren't twins, but Piper knew they had some kind of sibling connection. In her heart, she knew Annabeth was still alive.

A sudden rustle of branches nearby caught her attention. She crept over towards the window of the small run-down cabin she had taken refuge in. As she peered out into the darkness, a Walker smashed its face against the glass. Its teeth hungrily gnashing at air as it smeared its face against the window. Blood and chunks of rotted flesh peeled away from its face.

Piper sighed softly and opened the window just enough to slip the blade out and into the Walker's mushy skull. The feeling and sound made her a little queasy and she looked away as she withdrew the blade and closed the window.

She headed back towards her makeshift bed on the floor and grabbed a cloth from the bag. With a quick swipe, the blood disappeared from the blade and Piper put the cloth back in the bag. One thing was certain. She needed to find fresh water soon. Her supply was getting dangerously low, and she didn't know how much longer she was going to last.

Piper laid back down and tried to get some a little more sleep. She didn't know what time it was, but guessed it was probably around three-thirty in the morning. The plan was to get moving again when the sun came up, and don't stop until it went down again.

That had been the plan for the past fifty-eight days...

LINE BREAK

Piper slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times. Her vision was blurry as her eyes adjusted to the light streaming in through the nearby window. She squinted, trying to figure out what was smeared over the panes.

"Oh, yeah..." She rolled her eyes as she stood up and stretched. In a fluid motion that seemed extremely practiced, she rolled her makeshift bed together and tossed it into the duffle before carelessly slinging it over her shoulder.

Piper opened the cabin door slowly, poking her head out and surveying her surroundings before stepping out into the daylight. The sun was a little higher in the sky than it should have been. She frowned, coming to the realization that she had slept a little longer than she intended.

As she walked through the woods, she made sure to stop every so often to strain her ears to try and hear anything. Running water, Walkers... Even other people. Though sometimes, the people were more dangerous than the Walkers. She had run into her fair share of looters and men who wanted to take anything and everything she had. And not just supplies...

She wasn't sure how long she had been walking. Though she was certain at least two hours had passed, judging by the position of the sun. Her stomach growled loudly and she held her hand over her abdomen.

"Of course..." Piper muttered in annoyance. She had eaten the last of her rations before she went to sleep last night. Despite having them, there was so little left that it barely did anything to satiate her gnawing hunger. Now, she was desperate to find any kind of store, or town, that she could rummage through.

Some time later, Piper had managed to find a main road. It made her uneasy because of the dangers that were associated with it. Especially if it was the LeBlair Highway. When she was still together with Annabeth, they had stumbled upon it and crossed paths with a group of...less than friendly people.

They called themselves "The Slicers", and they were the ones that forced them to separate. Piper just remembered Annabeth waking her up in the middle of the night, panicking about how The Slicers had found them somehow and they needed to find somewhere to go.

As Piper walked down the road, she heard it. The sound she had been waiting for.

 _Water...!_

The young girl took off running towards the sound. She bolted through the trees, her heart pounding in her chest. The sound was getting closer; louder. Piper could practically feel the water running down her throat, and her mouth started watering. Soon enough, she came to a clearing that was home to the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time.

There was a large pond that had water pouring into it from a small waterfall that was only about five feet above it. The pond emptied into a small stream and kept going. Piper didn't know for how much longer. She was too overjoyed at the fact that she had found water. By some...miracle, she had found what she was looking for.

 _If only Annabeth were here..._ The thought crept into her mind for a moment before she dropped her bag by the edge of the water. In a rush, she took off her shoes and waded into the pond. The water drenched her clothes and she completely submerged herself. It was cold, but she didn't care.

She came back up for air and gasped loudly with a smile on her face. Piper cupped her hands together and swallowed several handfuls of the water. It felt so good going down her throat. Even better than she had imagined it would. Finding the water was like some benevolent force had decided to smile on her that very moment.

Piper made her way back to her bag and rummaged through it to find all her empty bottles. She grabbed them and wasted no time filling all of them to the brim. Granted, her bag would be a little heavier now. But that was the last thing on her mind as she shoved them into the bag and zipped it back up. As much as she wanted to stay, she knew she couldn't. She needed to find somewhere safe to call home before it started getting too dark.

"Well, well!" A voice startled Piper, causing her to drop her bag to the ground. She turned around and saw three men standing just beyond the clearing. One of them was leaning against a tree and there was a man standing on either side of him. "What do we have here?"

 _Shit..._


	2. Chapter 2

"What do we have here?" The man leaning against the tree asked. His arms were crossed across his chest and there was a smile on his face that made Piper feel uneasy.

"Nothing. I was just getting some water." Piper replied as she quickly slipped her shoes back on, sensing that things were about to go south rather quickly.

"That water's ours." The man told her. Piper had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at him. This wasn't the first time she had run across people like this. She started feeling a cold chill sweep over her, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just from her soaking clothes.

"Sorry. But I didn't see a plaque with your name on it, or anything." She retorted, bending over to quickly pick up her bag. "I can pay you, though. I just really need it." Piper opened the bag and rummaged through it.

"Oh, I know you'll pay for it." He said. Piper didn't look up, but she heard the footsteps of the two other men as they drew closer to her. "But not with anything from that bag, you know?" Piper finally found what she was looking for when she felt a hand on each of her arms. She could feel herself starting to panic, but braced herself for what was about to happen.

"I'm sorry." She said. Her bag fell to the ground and she swung her arm wildly at the man on her right. He let go and cried out in surprise. He stepped back a few feet as blood seeped from a gash on his hand. Piper turned her attention to the man on the right, who was caught off guard by the sudden outburst. She quickly stabbed the blade into whatever part of his body she was able to reach. It turned out, that so happened to be the man's abdomen. He let out a wail and fell to the ground, clutching his wound.

"Bitch!" The man with the bloody hand hissed behind her. Before Piper could turn around to face him, she felt an arm around her throat. He squeezed her tightly, cutting off her air supply. With his other arm, he tried to restrain her hands behind her back. But Piper was struggling too much for him to get a good grip.

Running on adrenaline and fear, and some self preservation, she managed to flip the blade in her hand to face the man behind her. Her vision was slowly tunneling into blackness and her left arm had started to go numb. With as much strength as she could muster, Piper drove the blade back into the man's flesh. Instantly, he slumped to the ground and cried out in agony. Not wanting to take any chances, she turned to face him and blindly stabbed him in the chest.

He fell to the ground in a heap. Blood poured out of his wounds and he made painful grunting noises. Piper looked at the man she stabbed before. He was crawling along the ground with his arm covering his abdomen. She rushed over to him and stabbed him once more in the back. He let out a strangled cry of pain, and stopped moving. Piper watched as he took a few breaths before he stopped moving all together.

In adrenaline fueled panic, she scanned her surroundings in search of the third guy. It seemed he had just disappeared. Piper knew he wouldn't just leave his buddies. He was determined to get something from her, and he wouldn't just leave without a fight. She rushed towards her bag and picked it up quickly. No sooner than she did, she found herself face down on the ground.

"You put up a good fight, you know?" A voice rasped close to her ear. Piper recognized it as the man who was leaning against the tree. She struggled underneath him and swung wildly behind her. She couldn't see, but she felt a hand grab hold of her wrist and twist it painfully. He pried the knife from her grip and stabbed it into the ground right beside her head. Piper inhaled sharply in fear before gathering herself and making for the knife with her free hand.

"No, no, no." The man snatched the knife from her grip once more and tossed it aside. Piper whimpered as she felt him manipulate her arms into an uncomfortable position behind her back. She squirmed and kicked her feet into the ground in a vain attempt to try and get free.

"Fighting will only make it worse." He warned her, putting pressure on her arms. Piper cried out, feeling like her arms were going to break. The man scoffed in satisfaction before roughly turning her over on her back. Her right arm was pinned underneath her in an awkward position, but she was able to swing wildly at the man with her left hand.

"I'll kill you!" Piper yelled at him. She dug her heels into the ground and was able to push herself upwards about an inch. It didn't do much to help her out. In fact, it seemed to just annoy her tormentor. He roughly smacked her across the face. Piper yelped in pain as her head jerked to the side. She saw stars for a moment as she lay underneath him feeling dazed and disoriented.

"You're not gonna do shit, little girl." The man chuckled. Piper felt her body jerk roughly, and there was the unmistakable sound of tearing fabric. She blinked several times to clear her vision, feeling another tidal wave of panic wash over her. That feeling spurred her into fight or flight mode. Again, she wildly, and blindly, swung her hand at her attacker again. Her hand made contact with something, and the man hissed in pain.

"Get off me!" She screamed. Her vision was less hazy, and she briefly saw two scratch marks on the man's cheek. "I'll kill you like I did your friends!" She threatened before the man wrapped his hands around her throat.

"I told you! Fighting will only make it worse for you." He squeezed his hands tightly, pressing his thumbs against Piper's windpipe. She gasped for air as she struggled to reach up towards his face. She drug her nails down his arm, leaving more scratch marks behind. The man grunted in pain, but ignored it. His sole focus was strangling the life out of Piper.

Piper's vision tunneled into blackness for the second time that day. She felt her arm fall weakly by her side as her lungs burned and screamed for air. Her gasps turned into mere wheezes as she accepted the fact that she was slowly dying. She was going to die, without ever finding Annabeth...

Suddenly, air flooded her lungs. She arched her back as she coughed and gasped, freeing her right arm from underneath her as she did. Her vision rushed back, and a surge of blood flooded into her head. She groaned in pain and finally caught her breath. Mustering some strength, Piper rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up on all fours. Her arms collapsed under her weight and she fell back onto the ground again.

"You OK?" A voice asked her. Piper felt a hand on her back and she reflexively cried out in protest. "Hey! I ain't gonna hurt ya!" The voice assured her. It was definitely male. Piper rolled onto her side and took deep, ragged breaths as her vision came into focus. She could see a guy staring at her, almost like he was judging something about her.

"Please...D-don't..." Piper whispered weakly. She heard his words, but they didn't register in her mind.

"I said I ain't gonna hurt ya!" The man said, setting something down beside him. "Calm down. Let me help ya." He said softly. Piper rolled onto her back and groaned. Her vision finally seemed to return to normal, but her head was pounding as it re-acclimated to the normal flow of blood. She slowly propped herself up on her elbows and eased herself into a sitting position.

"Are you OK?" The man asked her again. Piper turned to face him and finally got a good look at him. He looked grungy and was clearly unshaven. His hair was brown, shaggy, and cut in an asymmetrical style. He had a dirty green shirt and a leather vest over it. His jeans were ripped at one knee and covered in various stains.

"I..." Piper's voice cracked. She felt confused, scared, relieved, and exhausted. Unable to find the words to say to him, she hung her head. It was then that she noticed her shirt torn open, revealing her bra. She gasped loudly and quickly drew the torn shirt closer to cover herself.

"You gonna be alright?" He asked before he turned away and walked over to the man that had tried to kill Piper. The young girl licked her lips and winced. She could taste the metallic tang, and knew her lip was busted.

"My...sister..." She whispered weakly. Her eyes locked on the water as it rippled and flowed downstream. "I...have to find her." Piper struggled to her feet, then suddenly fell to her knees. She leaned forward and braced herself by holding her hands against the ground in front of her.

"Whoa! Hang on, now." The man dropped to his knees in front of her and held her shoulders to help steady her. "I ain't seen no other girl 'round here." He said. Piper knew that and shook her head.

"No... No, she's..." She looked down at the ground as she spoke. "We got separated, and..." She paused and took a moment to collect herself. "We got separated, and I've been trying to find her again ever since." Piper bit her lip and gasped in pain.

"You got any bandages in that bag?" He asked. Piper glanced at it, then brought her attention back to him.

"I... Just wanna find my sister." She replied. "I don't care about anything else." The man ignored her and pulled her bag over to the both of them and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a shirt and tossed it into Piper's lap.

"You ain't gonna find her if you don't take care of yourself first." He said as he stood up and turned his back on her. Piper stripped off her ruined shirt and slipped the other one on. She sighed and sifted through the contents of her bag.

"What does it matter to you?" She asked as she fished out a small piece of cloth and dabbed away the blood from her lip. The man turned to face her with a look of suppressed judgement.

"Family's all we got now." He said, then turned away from Piper again. She waited for him to finish, but it seemed like that was all she was going to get. Still holding the cloth to her lip, she forced herself to stand. Even though she was still a little shaky, she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"I know. That's why I have to find her." Piper said. "Before The Slicers do..." She mumbled. The man turned around and looked at her in surprise.

"The Slicers? You guys pissed _them_ off?" He asked in shock. Piper shrugged.

"My sister did. She woke me up when they were after her. We ran until they cornered us and then we got separated." The man headed towards the body of the man that strangled Piper and pulled something out of his neck.

"Come with me. I've got some friends that could help." He said as he wiped the man's blood off whatever it was he took. Piper couldn't see it clearly.

"I don't need... I can't..." Piper looked down at the ground as her hand fell to her side. The man approached her quickly, standing right in front of her. Piper looked up at him.

"Look. You can handle yourself. I can see that." He glanced at the two men that she had killed before the third man took her by surprise. "But The Slicers are gonna outnumber you and surround you once they find you. You won't stand a chance." The man informed her. Piper pursed her lips together.

"They have my sister." She admitted quietly.

"Then that's all the more reason for you to come with me." He replied quickly and turned to head somewhere. When Piper didn't immediately follow, he turned back to face her again. "Now!" He insisted. Piper's shoulders fell, but she started to follow him.

"Fine. But don't blame me when they come invade your camp, or whatever." She sighed as she pulled her, still wet, hair into a ponytail.

"Ain't gonna happen." The man replied confidently as he led her back to the highway. Piper furrowed her brows, but said nothing. "So, who are you?" He asked. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Piper." She said. "My sister is Annabeth. Who are you?" The man stared straight ahead. Piper turned her head towards him, and finally realized he had a crossbow on his back.

"Daryl."


	3. Chapter 3

The two survivors walked down the road in silence. Piper's sneakers made little noise on the concrete; mainly due to her soft footfalls. However, Daryl's boots made a scuffing noise every so often. Like he was dragging his heels from time to time. Piper had questions she wanted to ask Daryl; what was his camp like, how many people were there, how were they going to help her...what if The Slicers found her?

She was about to ask Daryl one of the questions on her mind, when some rustling in a nearby bush made both of them stop in their tracks. Daryl readied his crossbow in the blink of an eye and Piper pulled her knife out from her holster. The two of them crouched down slightly; Daryl's finger on the trigger as Piper held her knife in a defensive position.

After a few tense moments, a Walker shambled out into the open. Piper felt a sense of relief. Mostly because it wasn't a person that was going to give them trouble. Well... Technically, the Walker was still a person; it just wasn't a living person anymore. Killing them didn't seem like murder - at least not to Piper. It seemed more like mercy, or maybe self-defense.

The Walker stumbled towards the pair. It was a woman. Her hair was greasy and disheveled, like her clothing. She was wearing a short black skirt and her grungy pink tank top was ripped around the abdomen. Her skin was almost green with decomposition. She looked like a skeleton with a paper thin looking layer of skin stretched tightly over top. Her left arm was missing, her right arm was broken - hanging limply at her side - and her right eye was hanging out of its socket. If she hadn't been so dead, she probably would have been very attractive.

Daryl put away his crossbow as the dead woman made her way towards them. She growled and bared her teeth. Piper stood straight up as Daryl pulled out his own knife.

"No. I've got it." Piper said as she briskly walked past him. The Walker lurched towards her; gnashing teeth, growling snarls, and all. Like the Walker that had smashed its face against the window of the cabin last night, Piper quickly stabbed her blade into the skull. Again, the sickening _squelch_ noise made her stomach churn. She wondered if she would ever get used to that sound.

Piper retracted the blade and the Walker fell to the ground with a thud. She knelt down and wiped the blood off the blade onto the Walker's shirt. Her lifeless body made Piper pause as her thoughts drifted towards her sister. The Slicers had her, and god only knew what they were doing to her right now... The thought made Piper shudder as she stood up and sheathed her blade. She turned around and faced Daryl.

"What?" She asked, noticing his stare. His lips were pressed into a hard line, eyes squinting as if he was mentally grading her Walker killing ability. Piper watched him sheath his own knife before he spoke.

"You and your sister actually ran into Slicers?" Daryl asked, almost like he didn't believe her. Piper sighed softly and cast her gaze downwards for a moment. After a moment, she nodded silently. Her gazed shifted back to Daryl.

"You don't believe me. Do you?" She asked as she readjusted the bag on her shoulder. Daryl shrugged and shifted his weight to one foot. His eyes glanced over her quickly, like he was thinking 'there's no way this little girl went toe-to-toe with The Slicers and lived to tell about it'. In all honesty, Piper couldn't say she blamed him.

"Look," Piper began, placing her hands on her hips, "I've got no reason to lie to you. You've got no reason to trust me. I get it. We're in a weird situation here, let's just make the best of it. You've offered me help, and I'm taking you up on it. If you, and your people, get killed because The Slicers found me... Well, I'm gonna save my breath and _not_ say 'I told ya so'. OK?" She held one of her hands, palm upwards, by her shoulder. As if she was half-heartedly shrugging.

"Those guys back there. Were they part of The Slicers?" Daryl asked.

"Dunno." Piper shrugged. "They're just dead assholes, now." She said with disgust. "If they were, then that's three less in their ranks to worry about."

"Back at camp, they're gonna wanna know details." Daryl informed her. "Hope you'll be ready to give 'em." Piper shrugged.

"I get some food, I'll tell you guys whatever you wanna know." She replied. Daryl smirked and nodded once before he walked past her and took the lead. Piper quickly caught up to him. "How much further?" She asked.

"Right up the road, over the hill." He pointed down the road. Piper followed the direction of his finger and noticed a large, sloping hill in the distance. She couldn't be sure, but she could barely see something poking upwards just beyond the hill.

 _Some kind of watch tower, maybe?_ She wondered as they continued onward. Her eyes occasionally wandered to the tree line on either side of them; still on a bit of an adrenaline high from her encounter with the men at the pond.

"How far are we from LeBlair Highway?" Piper inquired. The two were drawing closer to the apex of the hill, but she was pretty sure they were a little further away than she thought.

"LeBlair?" Daryl looked at her as they walked. His tone almost sounded like the question offended him. "'Bout twenty, twenty-five, miles I'd say." He replied. "Known Slicer territory. We ain't had any run-ins with 'em, though." There was a pause between the pair before he spoke again. "Seems like that's gonna change soon." Piper caught a brief smirk on his lips out of the corner of her eye.

"You seem excited about going toe-to-toe with those bastards." Piper said.

"Not excited." Daryl corrected her. "The Slicers have been making life hell for people. As if we don't got enough hell goin' on 'round us. If they come after you, they'll come into our territory. Then we'll have an excuse to get rid of 'em." He explained.

"So, you like having me around to use as an excuse for when Slicers show up and massacre all your people to get to me? Got it." Piper said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"If that's what you wanna think, I ain't gonna stop ya." Daryl replied with a shrug. Piper almost stopped on the road. She didn't know whether to laugh, or be offended that he was insinuating she was going to be some type of bait for a fight.

Piper just shook her head and brought her attention back towards the camp in the distance. The two were at the top of the hill now, and she could see more of the place Daryl called home. Her earlier assumption about the probable watch tower was right. It towered high above the walls that surrounded the area.

"That's it?" Piper asked as they stopped for a brief moment. Daryl nodded and took a drink from a canteen that was attached to one of his back belt loops. "It's pretty big. How many people you got?"

"Not many." Piper raised an eyebrow, slightly intrigued.

"Not many? Your camp is huge!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah. Used to be more, but a group of people caught some kind of disease and ended up dead. Then, four of our people went on a run a while ago and never came back. We looked for 'em, but..." Daryl trailed off. "Shit happens, ya know?"

"Well... How do you know Slicers haven't gotten to them? Kidnapped them, or something? Like my sister?" Piper replied. The archer shook his head.

"Nah. We'd 've heard from The Slicers before now if they were caught. And Slicers ain't ones to take people for ransom unless they can get something from 'em. They probably took some supplies and ran off." Daryl said as they made their way down the hill towards the camp.

"Do you have any family?" Piper asked after they let the silence linger between them. Daryl glanced at her before bringing his attention forward again. He wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb before he spoke.

"Naw." He replied. His tone suggested there was something more to the story, but Piper didn't press him. The last thing she wanted to do, was piss him off and not be taken to the camp that had the food she so desperately wanted.

The camp loomed closer and closer, and the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. As the pair got closer, Piper could see figures in the watchtowers on either side of the entrance gate. She couldn't see them clearly, but she could see enough to know that they were looking at them through binoculars. Daryl must have seen the people as well, because Piper saw him make some kind of gesture to them. She saw the people in the watchtowers move about, and then the make-shift gate lurched as it slowly opened. By the time the pair got to the entrance, the door was completely open and a few people were hanging around.

"Who's this?" A woman with short brown hair asked. Her hand was resting on the gun that was strapped to her hip. Piper stared at her, not intimidated by her stance or attitude.

"Piper." She replied flatly. "Who are you?" She asked. The woman crossed her arms in front of her.

"You're the stranger in our camp. We'll be asking the questions." The brunette replied. Piper noticed she had a bit of an accent. However, hers was a bit more "Southern" and Daryl's was a bit more "backwoods".

"Hang on, Maggie." Daryl interjected. "She ain't gonna be a problem."

"Yeah? How do you know, Daryl?" The woman named Maggie snapped.

"Maggie," another woman with slightly darker hair cut in, "I'm sure she'll be fine. Why don't you go check on Glenn?" She suggested. Maggie took another look at Piper before she exhaled loudly and briskly walked away.

"She's right to be wary of strangers, but look at me." Piper said. "Do I look like I could possibly be a threat in _any_ capacity?" She asked. The other woman with the darker hair stepped a bit closer.

"Sorry. She's just having a bad time lately." She explained. "Her husband is sick."

"Infected?" Piper asked warily. The woman shook her head.

"No. It's...something else. We don't know what." She replied. Everyone was silent for a moment, and Piper looked around. Two young men started pushing the gate shut. "Oh, sorry. My name's Tara." The darker haired woman said. She stepped forward and extended her hand out towards Piper. The young girl stared at her hand for a moment, then slowly reached out and placed her hand in Tara's.

"Nice to meet you." Piper said. Tara nodded and smiled at her before letting go. A black, bald man in some kind of priest outfit stepped forward and extended his hand to her as well. Piper looked at him, a little wary.

"Please tell me this isn't some kind of religious cult..." She said. The man laughed.

"Not at all. I'm Father Gabriel." He said with a smile. Piper slowly put her hand in his, still a little unconvinced. However, everyone seemed rather normal given the circumstances. So, it probably wasn't a cult after all.

"Nice to meet you, as well." Piper said to him. He nodded and let go of her hand before turning around and heading down the road.

"So, uh..." Tara began, trying to figure out where to begin. "Do you have a rash, or something?" She asked out of the blue. Piper looked at her like she had three heads.

"Excuse me?" She replied in confusion.

"Your neck." Tara pointed. "It's all red." Piper reflexively reached up and touched her neck. The near-death experience from earlier briefly flashed across her mind.

"Oh, um..." Piper stammered and looked down. "N-no. I...um, had a run-in with some less than pleasant people." She clarified, then glanced up at Tara. "If not for your friend Daryl, I'd probably be dead." She turned to Daryl. "Thanks for that." Daryl nodded, but remained silent.

"Wow. Talk about perfect timing." Tara said, seemingly trying to lighten the mood. Piper turned back to her and smiled weakly. "Well, we have a doctor. Do you want her to take a look at that?" She asked. Piper shook her head.

"No, I'll be OK." She replied. "What I'd really like is some food, though."

"Of course. It is about lunch time." Tara said.

"I'ma head off." Daryl spoke up. "Later." He didn't even wait for a response before turning and heading off somewhere.

"He's a bit prickly." Piper said. Tara chuckled.

"You get used to it after a while." She replied. "It gets...endearing after a while." Piper turned behind her and saw that the gate was shut, and the men who closed it were nowhere to be found.

"Who were the guys that shut the gate?" She asked.

"Greg and Dustin. They keep to themselves mostly. Especially after their mother died." Tara said. "But, they still pull their weight and help out with everything." Piper felt a little sadness for them. After a moment, though, she just felt sad for herself. At least Greg and Dustin had each other. Piper didn't have anyone right now, and she wondered if she ever would again. Each day that went by without finding Annabeth, Piper felt more and more alone.

"So," Tara spoke up, "do you want a little tour first? Or do you just want to cut straight to the good part and get some food?" She asked. "Either way, I'm gonna have to show you around."

"Food, first." Piper replied without hesitation. "Please." She added after a moment, so she didn't sound rude.

"This way." Tara said, and began walking down the street. Piper followed her, looking at all the houses she passed on the way. It looked like a normal community, like people were just living ordinary lives; oblivious to the apocalypse that was going on just outside the walls. People were sitting on porches with drinks, other people looked like they were working on makeshift weapons in their garages.

"Daryl said that there aren't that many people here?" Piper asked. Tara nodded.

"We had some sickness come through and a lot of people caught it." She said. "Without access to a lot of the medications we used to have, a common cold can turn deadly." Tara walked up the stairs of a porch and opened the door to a house. "Sounds like a line out of a corny B horror movie." She laughed. "But it's true." The woman motioned for Piper to step inside, so she did.

The outside looked like a house, but the inside seemed to have been remodeled. The stairs were blocked off by a chain that had a piece of paper hanging off it that read: "NO UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS!". The kitchen looked like the order counter at a fast food place. Well, minus the cash registers. In the rest of the house that Piper could see from the door, there were tables and chairs for people to sit and eat.

"Wow." Piper said softly.

"Cool, huh?" Tara asked as she shut the door behind them. Piper nodded. A smile slowly spread across her lips as she inhaled the scent of freshly cooked food; an aroma that she didn't think she would ever smell again. Three people were busy preparing meals in the kitchen, and a few people were sitting at the various tables that adorned the living spaces.

"Hey Tara." A lady from behind the counter greeted her. Tara waved and walked over to her. Piper followed, and stood beside her. "Who's your friend?" She asked.

"I'm Piper." The young girl replied.

"Donna." The woman replied. "That's Carla," she pointed over her shoulder to another woman washing dishes, "and that's Adam." There was a man drying dishes and putting them in nearby cupboards. They both waved over their shoulders, not wanting to stop their work to say hello.

"Can we get some food?" Tara asked.

"What do you want?" Donna asked. "You're smelling dinner, right now. And, no. You can't ask what it is. It's a surprise." She said. Tara faked a pout, but started laughing when Donna rolled her eyes.

"You like chicken, Piper?" Tara asked. Piper nodded eagerly. "Two chicken sandwiches, then." Donna nodded, then set to work.

"You guys have chicken here?" Piper asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah." Tara replied like it was nothing. "We've got a farm in the back, believe it or not. Got a few chickens and cows. And some nice crops. Corn, potatoes, tomatoes. Just to name a few." She explained. Piper stared at her, speechless. "Greg and Dustin's dad was a farmer before he died. Taught the boys what to do."

"Sounds like you guys are living the good life here." Piper said, somewhat bitterly.

"It helps when everyone wants to work together and not kill each other." Tara replied. "It hasn't always been this way for us, you know." She informed Piper. The young girl looked to the floor. "We've had our share of rough times, believe me. We're still trying to recoup from the illness that swept through here." Her tone turned sad. "Lost a lot of good people..."

"Sorry to hear that..." She said softly. The pair remained quiet until Donna broke the silence.

"Here you go." She said, setting two plates on the counter in front of them. Piper stared at the most delicious looking plate of food she had seen in...well, what seemed like forever. The chicken was steaming as it sat in between the toasted bun. A few pieces of lettuce, and a slice of tomato sat on the side of the plate as if waiting to join the sandwich goodness that it sat next to.

"Piper?" Tara's voice cut through her thoughts. "You gonna come eat, or are you just gonna undress that sandwich with your eyes?" She joked. Piper smiled and picked up her plate before following Tara around the stairway. There was a small table against the wall that held other condiments and napkins. Tara grabbed a few napkins, then sat down at a nearby table. Piper sat in the chair across from her.

"So, what's your story?" Tara asked, before taking a bit of her sandwich. Piper looked at her briefly, then focused on her own sandwich.

"My story?" Tara nodded, expecting her to continue. Piper shrugged. "I'm trying to find my sister. We got separated." She said before taking a bite of her own sandwich.

"So," Tara swallowed, "can I ask what happened with your neck?" She stood up from the table and headed to a small cooler in the corner of the room. She came back with two bottles of water, and placed one in front of Piper.

"Thanks." Piper opened it and took a drink. "Well, I woke up today and needed to find water. Got lucky and found a pond with some fresh water. Only to be ambushed by three assholes that wanted...payment for it." She shuddered slightly before continuing. "I killed two of them. It was the third one that surprised me from behind. Daryl shot him, but not before he gave me this 'lovely' parting gift." She gestured to her neck.

"People are real assholes now that there's no laws they need to abide by." Tara shook her head. "And I used to think people would be at their worst when driving in the smallest amount of rain..." She joked to lighten the mood. Piper laughed a few times, then took another drink. "How long have you been trying to find your sister?"

"Fifty-eight days." Piper replied without missing a beat. "I know she's not dead. I just...feel it." She explained.

"I get it. It's like that 'twin psychic connection', or whatever."

"Yeah. Except we're not twins." Piper corrected. "Well, not identical twins. We could be, if we kept our hair the same and stuff." She smiled. Annabeth liked keeping her hair short and colored some variation of blonde. Piper liked having longer, dark hair. She was about to ask Tara if she had any siblings, but a male voice cut her off.

"Hey Tara." Piper sighed inwardly at the thought of being introduced to yet another person. She didn't plan to be here long, so she didn't bother seeing the point of getting to know everyone that lived here. "Who's your new friend?" He asked. Piper looked down at the floor. She saw a pair of feet appear at her side.

"This is Piper. She was out looking for her sister when she ran into trouble. Daryl helped her out, from what I hear." Tara explained. "Piper, this - " Piper brought her gaze up and interrupted her.

"Look, I - " She began. However, her voice caught in her throat when she realized who she was looking at. She barely registered Tara's quiet laugh at her expense.

"I take it you know who this is, then?" She asked the young girl. Piper stared at him with wide eyes, before she found her voice.

"Steve fucking Rogers..."


	4. Chapter 4

Piper was sure she was having some sort of fever dream. Or, she had really died at the hands of the asshole at the lake and this was some sort of afterlife paradise. She stared up at the tall blond man. Surely being dead, or hallucinating, made more sense than having _the actual Captain America_ standing in front of her so nonchalantly.

"Might wanna watch your language around him, Piper." Tara said with a playful smirk on her face. Steve shook his head and laughed softly; something that echoed in the shocked woman's ears. Before her brain could register what her body was doing, Piper found herself standing up and reaching out to him. She put her hands on his chest, feeling the fabric of his shirt and the toned muscles that were just underneath.

"Uhh... Piper?" Tara asked, staring at the bizarre scene that was unfolding before her. Piper gripped Steve's shoulders and stared up at him, locking her eyes on to his. She studied him closely, almost like she was having a staring contest.

"Piper..." Steve suddenly spoke, and the young woman found herself snapped out of her trance. She quickly retracted her hands from his shoulders and felt heat wash over her cheeks. She took a step back and looked at Tara.

"I-I'm sorry. I just..." She ran her hands through her hair, overwhelmed with the sudden superhero that fell into her lap. "Jesus... I feel like somebody should pinch me, cause I must be dream- Ouch!" Piper yelped as a sudden pain shot through her arm. She covered the spot with her hand and looked at Steve. He had a smile on his face.

"Sorry." He apologized, still smiling. "But, you're not dreaming." There was a pause, then Piper found herself unable to keep from giggling. She rubbed the slightly sore spot on her arm before letting her hands fall to her sides.

"I...can't believe Captain America just pinched me!" She exclaimed. The three of them chuckled for a moment. The gravity of the situation still hadn't quite hit Piper yet.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you girls. I heard we had a visitor, and that Tara was showing you around. I thought she might have mentioned us already." Steve said apologetically. Piper raised an eyebrow at him.

"Wait, 'us'? You mean...?" Her eyes widened at the realization. "What are you all doing here?!" She exclaimed.

"It's a long story." Steve replied. "Basically, we've been traveling and trying to find a safe place to see what we can do about maybe trying to find some sort of cure. This place seemed as good as any."

"It's been awesome having them here. They helped keep us safe." Tara interjected. "Especially after we had so much trouble with Slicers in the beginning." She added softly. Piper looked down at the mention of the name.

"So, how did you come by our camp?" Steve asked, taking a seat across from Piper. The girl brought her gaze up.

"Um... I..." Piper found herself stammering. She wasn't sure she wanted to go into detail about her run-in with the thugs at the lake. "I, um, ran into Daryl at this little pond up the road? I had been looking for water for a few days. He found me and asked me to come back to his camp." She said, making sure to leave out the less savory bits. Tara gave her a brief quizzical look.

"Ah, Daryl." Steve nodded. "He likes to go scouting on his own. Never thought he'd bring anyone back with him." He said. "Er, not that I mean he shouldn't. It's just that he's -"

"It's fine, Steve." Tara interrupted with a smile, keeping him from floundering. Piper chuckled softly.

"No, I know what you mean. He's not the most friendly, but he seems like he means well." Piper said. Steve nodded.

"Well, I don't want to keep you from eating." Steve said with a smile as he stood up. "I planned on going for a run, anyway. Just wanted to see who our visitor was." He extended his hand towards Piper. "It was nice to meet you."

"It was... _fantastic_ to meet you." She replied, shaking his hand. Piper knew Annabeth would freak out once she found out that her sister had met Captain America, and she wasn't around. She watched Steve leave before bringing her attention back to Tara - who had a puzzled look on her face. "What?"

"Why didn't you tell him about...the guys that attacked you?" She asked. Piper shrugged.

"I mean, there's not much he can do now. They're dead." She replied. "Besides, I...don't really want everyone to know about it. It's not one of my finer moments." Piper sighed. "Hi! My name's Piper! I just murdered two guys who were probably going to rape me, and the third guy almost did!" She said in a fake enthusiastic tone. "Not exactly the best ice breaker."

"Fair point..." Tara seemed to agree. The pair ate in relative silence. All the questions Piper had earlier seemed to fade into the back of her mind - all her thoughts were focused on Steve. Apparently the rest of the team was here, too. Was Dr. Banner here, working on a cure? That would be amazing if he found one!

"Thank you for the food, Tara." Piper said once she finished. Tara nodded with a smile.

"Glad you liked it." She replied. "Ready for the tour?" Piper stood up, feeling a little excited now that she knew there were superheroes around.

"Lead the way." She said, trailing after Tara.

Tara took Piper around the camp, showing her all the houses that people lived in and the ones that had been converted to serve other purposes. There was a small school, an armory, a workshop, and even two houses next to each other that had been changed into some kind of training area. Steve passed them by a couple times as he was running, making a point to wave each time.

"This is where we're going to put you for the time being." Tara said, as the two approached a two story house with a wrap-around porch - complete with a porch swing. "You are staying for a while, right?" She asked.

"I guess I am now..." Piper said as she stared at the house in awe. How had they kept all the houses in such great states, while the world around them was descending into chaos?

"Great! Go ahead in and make yourself comfortable." Tara opened the door for her. "I'll leave you to it. Don't hesitate to knock on any doors if you need anything." She informed Piper as the young girl stepped over the threshold.

"Um, thanks." Piper turned to face her. "I...don't know what to say."

"Well, you did just say 'thanks' so..." Tara laughed softly, causing Piper to smile. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm sure people will come knocking to introduce themselves." Piper nodded, not feeling to keen on entertaining guests. But, if that was the price to pay for getting all she was getting - then she wasn't going to complain.

Piper looked around the rooms she could see from the door. It looked like the same layout as the house with the makeshift diner. She made her way up the stairs and saw several rooms; looked to be three bedrooms and one bathroom. Piper walked down the hall and into the room at the end - apparently the master bedroom. It had a huge bed, two dressers and an armoire, and its own bathroom. She dropped her duffel bag in the doorway and took a flying leap at the bed.

"Ohhh! Oh my god!" She laid face down on the mattress, burying her face in the sheets. They smelled so fresh! Just like they were taken out of the dryer mere moments ago. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "Ohh, yes... An actual bed..." Piper practically moaned in happiness. It had been so long since she slept in an actual bed, she pretty much forgot what it was like. She rolled her head to the side, and saw the master bath.

"No way!" She exclaimed as she sprang up from the bed and rushed into the bathroom. There was a shower, a huge vanity, and a large bathtub. It seemed more like a hot tub to Piper, given the size of it. "Holy..." She walked over to the tub and sat on the edge of it. Part of her wasn't expecting there to be any water, but the other part of her was excited at the thought that there _could_ be. She turned the faucet, and her heart sank when nothing happened.

"Of course there's no water... It's an apocalypse, Piper. Why would there - " Her self-chastising statement was cut off when a sudden explosion of water burst from the faucet. She yelped and jumped up from the edge of the tub in surprise. Piper watched it regulate, and a smile spread across her lips. She bent down and put her hand under the water; it was cold, but she didn't care. She could bathe! Still smiling, she turned the water off and happened to catch her reflection in the large vanity.

Piper walked over to it, her eyes roaming across her reflection. She looked a mess; hair in desperate need of brushing, dirt marks on her face, mud stains on her jeans, and the lovely red ring around her neck.

"Knock knock! The door's open!" A female voice from downstairs called out.

"Upstairs master bedroom!" Piper called back. She left the bathroom, and noticed the stains from her jeans had stained the white blanket on the bed. "Oh no..." She whispered to herself as the person made their way to the top of the stairs. Piper didn't know what to do. She had just been given a wonderful place to stay, and hadn't even been there five minutes before she messed something up.

"Hey Piper." The voice spoke up from the doorway. She turned to face the visitor.

"Oh, hi. Um... Maggie?" The woman nodded. "I'm real sorry about the bedding. I... It's been a long time since I saw a bed, and it just looked so comfy. I didn't realize that I -" Maggie cut Piper off by holding up her hand to shush her.

"It's OK. I know the feeling. Before we found this place, I didn't think I would ever see an actual bed again." She had a half-smile on her face, like she was recalling a memory. "We'll get that washed for you. Don't worry about it." She reassured Piper.

"I can't believe you guys have running water!" Piper exclaimed.

"We have electricity, too." Maggie said. To emphasize her point, she flicked the nearby light switch on the wall and - despite still being daylight - the ceiling lights illuminated the room with more light. Piper felt her jaw drop.

"Wow..." She breathed. Never in her life did Piper think things that seemed so trivial to her would leave her speechless. Maggie flicked off the switch, and Piper brought her attention back to her.

"About earlier, at the gate. I'm sorry for how curt I was. We've had a rough time lately, and - "

"Tara told me your husband is sick. I understand." Piper interrupted. Maggie nodded quietly. "I'm sorry for being defensive. This is your guys' place and you're right to be wary of outsiders." She reasoned. "I would be too. Even more so lately..." Piper trailed off.

"Tara told me about what happened with you, too." Maggie said. Piper looked down and swallowed hard. "I'm glad Daryl was able to help you. He's not much of a people person, but his heart's in the right place." She explained. Piper looked at her and smiled.

"Thank you for letting me stay here. I don't want to impose, so I probably won't be staying long."

"Are you serious? Do you see all the space we have? Stay as long as you want. Just don't steal any of our supplies if you leave." Maggie narrowed her gaze at Piper as she spoke the last part of her sentence.

"Believe me, stealing from here is the last thing I'd want to do. Captain America would probably hunt me down and kick my ass." Piper laughed. Maggie smiled as well.

"Well, maybe not Steve. His friend most likely would, though." She corrected Piper. The younger girl looked at Maggie with confusion.

"Friend...? Oh! Tony Stark? He doesn't strike me as the type - "

"No. Not him. He..." Maggie interrupted, but stammered. "Come with me. I'd like to show you something Tara didn't."


	5. Chapter 5

Piper silently followed Maggie as they walked out of the house and down the street. The pair passed by several houses and turned down one of the cul-de-sacs. There was one house that Tara didn't point out during the tour. Maggie seemed to take a deep breath as the two of them walked closer towards it. The grass was somewhat overgrown compared to everything else around it, but it wasn't too badly unkempt. They walked around the back of the house, and Piper felt her mouth open in shock and sadness.

Maggie stayed where she was, but Piper took a few steps forward and knelt down to rest her knees on the ground. There was a mound of dirt and a marker; the obvious sign of a grave. There were several graves around her, but this one caught her attention. She reached out and placed her hand on the marker; it was unmistakably the helmet of Tony Stark's Iron Man suit. Piper lowered her head and closed her eyes. Tony Stark was dead... She couldn't believe it.

"He got sick." Maggie spoke up. Piper turned her head and met her gaze. "Some kind of infection, but not from the dead." The young girl was stunned and couldn't find her voice. She let her hand fall to the ground and she sat there in silence for a few moments. Piper took a deep breath and turned to stand up. That's when she saw another grave marker catch her eye.

"No..." She breathed softly, moving towards the grave. Piper covered her mouth with one hand and reached out to touch the grave marker with her other. Her fingers traced the engraving on the metal and danced over the handle. Never in a million years did Piper think she would ever be able to touch Mjolnir. She was just devastated that it had to be under these circumstances.

"Turns out an Asgardian wasn't immune to this." Maggie said. Her tone was a mix of defeat and anger. "He was a great help when he was alive, though." She added. "We were lucky to have him around as long as we did. Tony, too." A pause. "Kind of. Bit of a snarky asshole, though. But he was trying to find a cure. Don't think he made much progress." She explained. Piper swallowed, then stood up. The other graves were marked as well, but they didn't seem to be other superheroes.

"You mentioned Steve's friend? Who were you talking about?" She asked Maggie.

"Maggie?" A voice cut in, and a young man stepped around the side of the house into view. "Glenn's awake and asking for you." He said. Maggie turned to face him.

"He is? Thank you." She said before turning and walking away. "Sorry Piper! I have to go!" She called over her shoulder before breaking out into a jog. Just like that, she was gone.

"Um, hey. I'm Evan." The boy stated somewhat shyly. Piper gave him a slight smile.

"Piper. Nice to meet you." She said and extended her hand to shake his. Tentatively, Evan put his hand in hers and shook it.

"You too." He replied as they let go. "I have to get back to my stuff." Evan pointed over his shoulder and turned to leave.

"What stuff?" Piper asked curiously. Evan looked over his shoulder.

"I do most of the laundry around here. Anything you need washing, you let me know." He said.

"Oh, I do!" Piper quickly replied. "I accidentally got the bed sheet dirty when I laid on it. I forgot my jeans were muddy." She said, feeling a little flush in her cheeks.

"I'll go get it and give it a wash. It'll be good as new before you know it." He replied with a smile.

"Thank you so much." Piper said. "I'm in the house - "

"I know where you're at." He replied. Piper closed her mouth and furrowed her brows. Something about the way he said it made her feel a little...off. But she brushed it aside as just still feeling wary since her incident at the lake. She watched Evan walk off towards the direction of the house she was staying at. She took one last look at the makeshift graveyard before heading off and wandering around.

It was still the afternoon, and people were out and about doing...whatever they were doing. An older man seemed to be whittling on his porch. A woman came out of the front door and handed him a drink. Little kids were playing on the lawn of another house and Piper assumed that the woman watching them was their mother. Another woman came out of the house and gave the first woman a kiss on the lips before sitting down to join her.

As Piper walked around, her thoughts drifted to her sister. She wondered if she was OK, wondered where she was, what the Slicers were doing to her... A shudder swept over her and made her shoulders shake. That was something she didn't want to think about, but it lingered in the back of her mind like a cancer.

She rounded a corner and saw a somewhat large field that looked like a training ground. There were some archery targets and makeshift dummies against the wall. Piper wandered over and rested her hand against the handle of the knife that was sheathed in a belt around her waist. She walked over to one of the dummies and examined it; made of some kind of canvas material and filled with straw, it seemed.

Piper pulled the knife out of the sheath and gripped the handle firmly. She was by no means an expert in knife combat, but she knew enough to get by in most situations. Against the dead, it was a piece of cake. But the living? They were another story. She absentmindedly ran her fingers over her neck with her free hand as she stared at the blade. She needed to be more prepared for anything, and the little makeshift training ground seemed as good a place as any. It was even better because nobody was around to watch her make a fool of herself.

She took a step back and slashed at the dummy, making a small cut in the fabric where a person's torso would be. Piper stood there for a moment, wondering what to do next as she had never done anything like this before. She re-positioned her grip on the handle so that her next strike would be more of a downward stabbing motion rather than the slash she had just done. It felt awkward, but probably because she had never used a knife like that before.

Piper turned away, putting her back to the dummy. She imagined the scene back at the lake, someone grabbing her from behind. It was hard to do, just imagining her life was in danger. However, she still blindly stabbed behind her and turned around to see her knife lodged in the side of the dummy.

"I must have just gotten lucky earlier." She mumbled and withdrew the knife. After a few moments, Piper sighed in frustration. "What am I even doing?!" She exclaimed to no one in particular. "I can't train myself. I don't know anything about this..." Piper shook her head in defeat. "I'll never be able to fight off the Slicers to get to Annabeth." She sighed again and ran her fingers over the sharp edge of the blade.

"I could give you a few pointers."


End file.
